Fifty years of building relationships continues to evolve toward building more business connections.
About 60 local business and political leaders joined the delegation from Belleville’s twin-city Lahr, Germany
Thursday for a Business Economic luncheon at Loyalist College’s Link Lounge. The Lahr group had previously taken a tour of Loyalist College’s facilities, classrooms, and labs.
Loyalist College President Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan. (Photo: Quinte News)
Loyalist College was very much a focus of the presentations with Master of Ceremonies Loyalist President Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan telling the gathering that since the pandemic began, 25 new academic programs have been created at the college and it continues to evolve to serve the region’s needs according to changing demographics and market demands.
She thanked Belleville Mayor Mitch Panciuk for making Loyalist College an even more integral part of the community than it had been and for his part the mayor said the city’s and region’s regard for the college made for a “mutual admiration society.”
Panciuk said Loyalist was a huge contributor to the local economy, providing skilled workers in a myriad of sectors and providing support to over 6,000 jobs in the region.
Loyalist is now offering more degree-granting programs and has moved up 11 notches on the top 50 list of best research-oriented colleges in Canada. Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan told the gathering that there have been 500 applications for just 100 openings in Loyalist’s new nursing degree program.
The economy was top of mind for Lahr’s Oberburgermeister Markus Ibert in his brief remarks. “Without a strong economy we can’t have schools and healthcare. It’s schools like Loyalist that turn out people ready to build a modern and strong economy.”
Lahr and regional business leader Dr. Steffen Auer said Lahr, and Belleville and area, were similar in important ways. Both had vibrant and growing manufacturing sectors and both offered natural beauty, attracted tourists, and had an excellent quality of life for residents.
Lahr and area, in the south of Germany near the Black Forest, draws around 350,000 visitors a year to enjoy the landscape, some of Europe’s finest dining, museums and galleries.
German business leader Dr. Steffen Auer. (Photo: Quinte News)
Lahr’s industry base is varied and mostly technology based, with industry focused on medical equipment, and mechanical and electrical engineering. It has thousands of mid-size family-run businesses, businesses Auer said the Quinte region would be wise to focus on in an attempt to have them expand in this area.
“Such businesses usually think of the U.S. when making expansion plans but this area would be a perfect fit for many of them.”
Lahr has an expanding industrial park and an airport which used to serve as a Canadian military base.
Lahr is part of an economic region with six million densely packed residents from parts of Germany, France, and Switzerland and transportation links are excellent.
Auer said Lahr and the region had an optimistic economic outlook for the future but added that until Russian President Vladimir Putin was stopped from ordering “horrible” attacks on Ukraine, economies almost everywhere would take a hit for a while. “Democracies must work together and do whatever it takes to stop this tragedy.”
The Executive Director of the Quinte Economic Development Commission Chris King told the forum that his group was looking very much forward to continuing discussions with business people in Lahr and area for mutual benefit in the form of new industry locating, trade, and foreign investment.
Executive Director of the Quinte Economic Development Commission Chris King. (Photo: Quinte News)
King stressed that manufacturing was the focus of the QEDC, pointing out that the sector was responsible for half the region’s economic output or around $13 billion.
Kim Egan of the Quinte Manufacturers Association stressed how crucial the manufacturing sector was.
“Manufacturing is the backbone of our economies. We have to make things, to innovate. We’ll go nowhere if we just serve each other for a living.”
Egan was cheered when she said, “Governments manufacture nothing. Printing money is not manufacturing and is not productive. It’s harmful.”
Egan stressed the strengths of locating in the Quinte region. “Our cost of living is lower, our people are friendly, and we are just a two or three hour drive away from major markets in the GTA, Montreal, and the U.S.”
Egan is Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer for GH Manufacturing in Belleville, a packaging manufacturer.
She had high praise for the company’s founder Gunther Huettlin who expanded into Belleville from Germany several years ago.
The Lahr delegation’s visit ends late Sunday and an invitation has already been extended to have a Belleville delegation go to Germany in the spring of next year.
Loyalist College staff and students from the culinary program prepare lunch at the Business Economic Luncheon with Lahr Delegates at the College’s Link Lounge. (Photo: Quinte News)
